Picking up the Broken Pieces
by Eroshiyda
Summary: Sometimes, cleaning up isn’t as bad as it sounds. KakaSaku oneshot told from Kakashi’s perspective. First published June 2008.


The walk home is a long one from headquarters. I stroll along the path which leads to my house. It's dreadfully late, so there aren't many people out at this time. I can hear cicadas crying to the moon, my only source of light on this path of darkness. It's cool tonight, but not too cold. Autumn is definitely on its way to Konoha…

A small sob echoes in the distance. Quick as a fox, I silently dart over towards the cry and find a woman in a big white dress sitting on a bench with her head in her gloved hands. She is wearing a tiara in her hair, and I suddenly realize that her hair is pink. It must be:

"Sakura," I say quietly.

She gasps and looks up at me, her teary makeup streaming down her puffy face. "Kakashi," she whispers, trying to hide her emerald eyes from me. They're such pretty eyes.

I sit down next to her on the bench. "Why are you crying?" I ask her. Whoever did this is going to pay dearly.

She wails. "Oh, Kakashi! I told Sasuke that I wanted him to marry me…"

I should have known. She bought the wedding dress and now she's having second thoughts. "And…?" I ask, trying as much as humanly possible not to sound jealous.

Sakura sobs even louder. "It's all over. He-he dumped m-me. Oh, it's s-so ho-horrible!" Poor thing; she's crying so hard that she can't even speak. Knowing Sasuke, he probably told her something along the lines of 'Take that stupid dress back,' or 'Of course I can't marry you – I'm in love with someone else.' Hell, he already cheated on her numerous times, with the defense that he's 'trying to rebuild his clan' and that he's 'not sure if Sakura is the one' for him. He doesn't deserve her.

I put my arm around her and allow her to rest her head on my shoulder. "Sh, you'll be fine," I hush her. "There, just…" I let my voice trail off. There is absolutely nothing that I can say to her that will make her feel better. The man she loves has just broken her heart… once again. He does it over and over, and then who is left to pick up all of the shattered pieces?

But I don't mind doing it. Rest assured that Haruno Sakura will always be happy in Hatake Kakashi's presence.

She snuggles up next to me; I can feel her warm tears leaking through my shirt, soaking my upper arm. I sigh and hold her head in my hands, stroking the silken locks of daisy pink hair. I place a tiny kiss on her head, and it seems to soothe her almost immediately.

"Kakashi?" her muffled voice calls from my sleeve.

"Yes, Sakura?" She looks up at me with raccoon eyes and a wet face, trying to force out a smile for me. I hate to see her cry… every time it happens, I die a little bit inside. Sakura deserves to be the happiest woman on Earth. Her lips should always be curved upwards into that thousand-Watt smile of hers, not permanently frowning because some stupid ass-hole is making her miserable. I just don't understand it. It makes me want to beat the shit out of Sasuke.

"I love you," she says to me in the softest of voices.

I can feel a sad smile sweeps across my face. If only she loved me the way that I want her to. But I'll take whatever I can get – Sakura doesn't say that to just anyone. As far as I know, she has only said it to two people: me, and that bastard…

"Kakashi?" she says again.

"Yes, Sakura?" I'm always ready to do anything for her. Whatever she wants from me, it's hers.

She shakes her head and wipes the remaining tears from her face, and then clasps her hands together and puts them in her lap. "Don't you love me, too?" she asks me sheepishly, looking down at her pink, glittery shoes.

My heart skips a beat, and I can feel my cheeks growing warm with anxiety. "Uh… what?"

"Do you love me?" she repeats, looking straight at me this time.

I'm absolutely stunned. I want to say 'yes,' but is it my place? She deserves to know the truth, but is it right? I open my mouth to speak; no words come out. She stares longingly into my eyes, looking like the lovely angel that she is. "I…" I'm at a complete loss of words. Damn it, why am I so socially retarded?

She tilts her head and slowly leans towards me. She must want a kiss, I think. I hold the back of her neck with my hand and pull down my mask with the other. Oh boy, I'm in for it now… I tilt my head opposite hers and close my eyes, as she has already done. I press my lips against hers, and we both give a short moan of relief. Dear me, I've wanted this for so long!

True to her specialized skills, her kiss is healing. It drowns my sorrows with a continuous and fluid motion. Our lips open and close, our tongues move in and out, each repetitive and lavish movement gaining more and more momentum. I can literally feel my insides melting as I give her my everything with this one long, luscious kiss.

I wrap my arms around her, pulling her closer and closer until I can feel her heart pulsing and her lungs expanding and collapsing with breath. At this point, I don't even care if we get caught. I want the world to see that Sakura and I belong together. Tears fill my eyes as she continues to kiss me; I now realize that the whole time I had been picking up the broken pieces of her life, she had been mending my torn heart as well.


End file.
